Method for unclogging oil passageways of engines



J. MANZl Jan. 21, 1969 METHOD FOR UNCLOGGING OIL PASSAGEWAYS OF ENGINES Filed March 19, 1965 INVENTOR. JOl-l/V MA/VZ/ ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,423,241 METHOD FOR UN CLOGGING OIL PASSAGEWAYS OF ENGINES John Manzi, 1 S. Malin Road, Broomall, Pa. 19008 Filed Mar. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 441,114 US. Cl. 13422 1 Claim Int. Cl. C23g /02; B081) 9/00 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The unclogging of an engine oil passageway extending from adjacent the cam shaft to lubricate a rocker arm shaft is accomplished by removing the rocker arm shaft from one side of the engine, supplying grease under pressure to an upper portion of said oil passageway in a direction opposite the normal direction of oil flow, and, while retaining the grease trapped under static pressure in the passageway, operating the other part of the engine to heat the trapped material and increase the pressure thereon for dislodging an internal obstruction.

This invention relates to a method for unclogging oil passageways and more particularly the oil lines or passageways leading to the rocker arm shafts of Ford V-8 automobile engines for the period from 1954 to 1962.

These engines are particularly susceptible to clogging of the passageways referred to and there have been various proposals for eliminating the tendency of this oil line to become clogged.

One conspicuous location where the tendency to clog has existed has been thought to be in an offset involving two substantially right angle bends but the clogging may occur elsewhere in the passageway. When the crank case oil is changed as often as every few thousand miles there is substantially no tendency for any sludge or heavy ends to become clogged anywhere in the oil system of the engine. Poor maintenance on the part of many owners has permitted the clogging to occur. This particular type engine has been superseded but there are still many thousands of these engines in use and there will continue to be for many years to come.

One problem of the clogging problem has been to apply auxiliary external oil lines to supply oil to the rocker arms.

Another proposal as in Patent No. 3,081,785 has been for the use of shock waves through the block and head to loosen any clogged oil lines but this has not proven satisfactory in practice.

This particular design of engine over a decade old has now been discovered that the simplest, surest, least expensive yet most worthwhile way of opening this oil line to the rocker arm shaft by removal of this overhead shaft on only one set of four cylinders leaving the other four operable. Then a small block containing a fitting with a ball check or non-return valve is bolted over this oil line using the same bolt holes required for a supporting 'bracket for this rocker arm shaft. Grease under pressure from a hand operated or pneumatic operated grease gun is then applied in opposition to the normal direction of oil flow to force the material causing the clogging to be moved and thereby open up the passageway. This is almost always successful in opening up the clogged passageway. In the very few instances where it is not effective the engine is operated on the other four cylinders and the heat from engine transferred to the portion of the block to which the grease has been applied. This heat by expansion of the grease causes the passageway to be opened up.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a simple but effective method for use in opening up clogged oil passageways to the rocker arm shafts of 1954 to 1962 Ford V-8 engines.

3,423,241 Patented Jan. 21, 1969 "ice It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of the character aforesaid which can be readily applied to engines of this type.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the description and claim.

The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the small block with a grease fitting having a ball check or non-return valve forming the most important components of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view through the particular type of engine mentioned but with the right rocker arm shaft removed;

FIG. 3 is a partial section through the engine block and head, taken approximately on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2, and enlarged, and showing the offset in the oil line to a rocker arm shaft and with the small block in place where such shaft has been removed;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section, enlarged, taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3, through bolt hole axis with small block in clamped position.

This well known type of Ford V-8 engine comprises an oil reservoir 10 located in the crank case 11 which is bolted in the usual manner to the engine block 12. A crank shaft 13 has its axis located at the intersection of the axis through the various cylinders. The usual cam shaft 14 is located as indicated for operating the various valve rods. An oil pipe 15 extends from a lower central portion of the crank case 11 to an oil pump 16 secured outside the crank case 11 and the block 12. An oil filter 17 is connected by a pipe 18 from the pump 16. An oil pipe 19 leads from the filter 17 to an oil feed pipe 20 leading to both the bearings 21 of .crank shaft 13 and bearings 22 for the cam shaft 14. The pipe 20 is also connected for supplying oil through both inclined passageways 23 leading to the overhead rocker arm shafts 24, there being one for each set of four cylinders. Such shaft 24 on the right side has been removed as seen in FIG. 2. One of the rocker arms 25 is shown on the left side in FIG. 2 for actuating a valve rod 26. A hood 27 normally encloses these rocker arms 25.

In engines of this type upper portions 23a of the passageways 23 are offset with a connecting portion 23b connected at substantially right angled bends in the passageways 23. The connecting portions 23b are contiguous to the meeting portions of the block 12 and head 28. On each head 28 is a support 29 for each rocker shaft 24.

Upon removal of the rocker shaft supports 29, two threaded openings 30 in the head 28 are available.

All the structure just described is well known on these Ford V-8 engines.

A small block 35 is provided shown in detail in FIGS. 1 and 4. The block 35 is elongated, has a central opening 36 extending between a clamping face 33 and an engine head engaging face 34. The opening 36 has a threaded portion 37 for the reception of a grease fitting 38. The fitting 38 has a tip portion 39 for the reception of a grease gun outlet connection (not shown) and a valve ball 40 normally urged outwardly to closed position by a spring 41 to prevent return flow. The opening 36 in the block 35 connects the fitting 38 with the upper end of the passageway 23.

The block 35 has spaced parallel holes 43 for the reception of clamping bolts 44 which engage in the threaded openings 30 so that the block 35 can be drawn down tightly onto the head 28.

Any usual hand or pneumatic type grease gun engaged on the tip portion 39 is adapted to force grease through the fitting 38 into passageway 23 at which the block 35 is clamped, to open the passageway 23, the grease being forced downwardly and in the opposite direction from the normal flow of oil for rocker shaft lubrication.

In the event that the partially or Wholly clogged passageway 23 is not opened up by the pressure of the grease applied in this manner, after charging the clogged passageway 23, the other half of the engine is operated. The heat transferred from the operating half of the engine causes the trapped grease under the charging pressure, and retained in the passageway 23 by the check valve in the fitting 38 to further increase in pressure to open the clogged passageway.

I claim:

1. A process for unclogging an oil passageway in an engine extending from adjacent a cam shaft to lubricate a rocker arm shaft said process including removing the rocker arm shaft from one side of said engine,

mounting a fitting on the engine,

supplying grease under a continuous high static pressure through said fitting to an upper portion of said oil passageway and in a direction opposite to the normal direction of oil flow to dislodge any internal obstruction,

retaining the grease trapped under pressure, and

operating the other part of the engine with the static pressure maintained in said oil passageway for heating the trapped material to increase the pressure and dislodge an internal obstruction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/ 1924 Winchester 134--40 XR 5/1925 Osterhout 134--22 XR OTHER REFERENCES MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner.

I. ZATARGA, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

